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Friday, March 02, 2012

Knaus On Penalty: "That's What We Do..."

Knaus is on the hotseat again.

Embattled Hendrick Motorsports crew chief Chad
Knaus insisted today that the parts confiscated from Jimmie Johnson’s Lowe’s
Chevrolet during pre-qualifying inspection for the Daytona 500 were the same
parts that passed inspection four times last season.

The c-pillars from Johnson’s car were taken
by NASCAR after inspectors determined they had been illegally altered. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rulebook states, "steamlining
of the contours of the car, beyond that approved by the Series Director, will
not be permitted," and this week, the sanctioning body slapped Knaus and
car chief Ron Malek with six-race suspensions, fined Knaus $100,000 and docked
Johnson and team owners Rick Hendrick and Jeff Gordon 25 driver/owner points.

Speaking publically
for the first time since the penalty announcement, Knaus said the car in question
"did
run all four (restrictor plate) races last year, and had been through
inspection a lot. We do everything we
can to build the best race cars we possibly can to bring to the race track, and
that's what we do," said Knaus. "Unfortunately, (NASCAR) didn't like
something and we've got to address that."

Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick has claimed
the car passed all of this year’s pre-Daytona 500 template checks, only to be
busted by a NASCAR official’s naked-eye inspection. “It was just a visual inspection," confirmed Knaus today.
"We never actually got the opportunity to present that under the
templates. There's a bit of subjectiveness to it (and) that's why we're going
through the appeal."

Both Knaus and
Hendrick know from past experience that templates alone do not determine the
legality of a body. Hendrick Motorsports was sanctioned by NASCAR at Infineon
Raceway in 2007 after being caught will front fenders that fit the sanctioning
body’s templates, but has been illegally flared in areas not detected by the
measuring device.

Knaus’ most recent suspension – if upheld on
appeal – will be his third in the last seven seasons, making him the closest
thing NASCAR has to a habitual offender. His repeated brushes with the law will
almost certainly weigh against him when the Appeals Board meets to consider his
fate, as will last year’s now-infamous race at Talladega Superspeedway when
Knaus instructed Johnson to "crack the back" of the car in the event
of a win; only to discover his comments had been recorded and played on
national television.

Knaus contends the car he instructed Johnson
to intentionally crash that day included the exact same c-pillars found lacking
in Daytona last month. If so, what was he trying to hide? The Appeals Board
will almost certainly want to know.

Johnson and Knaus are focused on Phoenix

The veteran crew
chief said he is “deeply saddened" by the penalty, adding, “we didn’t
expect this. It’s not the way that we wanted to start off the season. We will
go after this thing, hopefully get it resolved and beaten and go back to
business. Right now we are focused on getting through Phoenix and trying to win
this championship.”

When similar violations removed Knaus from
the pit box in 2006 and 2007, the No. 48 team’s performance was not adversely
impacted. In fact, the Lowe’s Chevrolet team actually fared better at times with
its controversial crew chief on suspension.

In 2006, Johnson won two of four races with
replacement crew chief Darian Grubb calling the shots; posting an average
finish of 2.5. The following year, Johnson managed only a 21st place
average with Malek at the helm; an average impacted by a pair of crashes. It
should be noted that before wrecking at Chicagoland Speedway, Johnson appeared
to have the dominant car, leading 82 laps. In the races he finishes with Malek
in command, Johnson boasted an average finish of fourth.